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Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Lil' Chick Cupcakes

I saw this on Kraft foods (I think) and I said, I can do that.  So I did.  And as always Nathan helped.

We baked some yellow cupcakes....made some frosting and added yellow food coloring to it (the color came out sooo pretty).  We took some coconut flakes and added yellow food coloring to those as well and shook the bag to mix it all up.  We used brown m & m's as the eyes and cut out beaks using gummy candy (peach rings or those sugar sprinkle orange slice things work the best).  The kids LOVED them....they are almost too cute to eat, almost ;)
Shaking up the coconut
Letting the coconut dry (pretty color)
Yellow Frosting
The decorations
Waiting to decorate them
the coconut topping
added the eyes, then the beaks
Finished....See what I mean about being almost too cute to eat!

Hatching Chick Craft

This is a fun little springish/Easter craft for kids, you can use construction paper if you want, but we used foam board, because it's more fun!
Take a piece of foam board (you can find it all over the place, but the Dollar Tree is the cheapest place to find it).  Cut it into an egg shape.  Next, cut the top of the egg off.  Then cut it to look like it "hatched". 
Make a bird shape, I just free handed this part, but you can probably use your child's foot to make the shape if you want. 
Glue on some googley eyes and cut out a beak and glue that on too.  Decorate the egg, we used foam stickers (but you can color it if you use paper). 



Next, glue the chicken to the back of the egg and use a brad fastener to attach the egg shells together. That's all there is to it.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Roarrrr!

Another lion craft project, since March is almost over...luckily, I think March is going out like a lamb.  But, we had to make one more lion just for fun.
Paint 2 paper plates yellow
Paint a lion face on the plate, cut some ears using the other plate and glue them to the back of the face plate, and cut some yarn into 2 inch long pieces (we used multi-colored yellow, orange and white yarn).
Find some "buddies" and have them help you glue the yarn to the outside lip of the plate
Then take all the credit while they all sit there silently staring at you hehe!
I had to laugh as I was looking at the pics of this that I uploaded to the computer, because Nathan said "You sure do take alot of pictures, Mom."

Monday, March 29, 2010

She Works Hard For The Money....Wait, What Do You Mean I Don't Get Paid For It?!

I have been working hard this weekend painting our living room, entry way and hallways.  It's a hard job and I really wish I could be one of those people who did it all in a weekend and then posted their amazing weekend before and after photos.....But let's be realistic here, I have 6 kids.  So unless I hired a professional painter, a cleaning crew and some nannies to keep the younger kids occupied, having it all finished by Monday morning wasn't happening! I swear I worked all weekend and it looks like I did absolutely nothing.  Don't you hate when that happens?

First, I stripped more wallpaper and scrubbed more wall paper glue.  I do have to say it's ALOT easier to peel the wall paper off the wall and then spray the glue with a mix of fabric softner and hot water.  If you wait a few minutes, you can literally pull the glue right off the walls with your fingers.  But some of it is a bit harder in places than others.  I even marked up the walls in a few places and had to have Rich slap some dry wall mud over them.  Which of course takes time, because you have to wait for that to dry and then sand it smooth. 

Then, I painted one more coat of paint in the girls' bedroom, because there was a lot of patch work that Rich had to do in there and it just seemed easier to paint the whole thing and blend it in that way, than just going over the patch marks.   I went to Walmart to use their photograph machine, so that I could frame some of the pictures that I love.  Would you believe that the walls in this house have pretty much been bare since we moved in.  Not that I don't have prints and things to hang on them, I just wanted to wait until we painted....Yes, I think we can all agree that I am a MAJOR procrastinator! I did my part (finally...) now I just have to tell Rich where to  hang them (I can not hang pictures to save my life). 

I also got two major walls painted (took two coats of paint, one wall actually took three coats).  And I had the boys move a bookcase into the living room (it was downstairs in the family room).  Along with moving some of the books with it.  The bottom cabinet of the bookcase is filled with old video tapes.  We literally have hundreds of them.  I still have to weed through those and save the ones we want and donate the ones we don't to the library or something. 

I also tackled one of my fears (heights) and climbed  up the ladder to strip the paper in the entry way (it's a split entry, so the walls there are two stories).  I couldn't reach all the paper from the 6 foot ladder, but I got a good chunk of it down.  I just need to get a taller ladder to reach the rest and then I can paint those walls too.  It is a huge amount of work to do, but it will be worth it when it's done.  And it better look nice, because I don't plan on redecorating that again for a long, long time.

I am on the lookout (which I couldn't find yesterday, so I'll have to look again another time) for some navy blue paint to use on a shelf that I bought at a thrift store.  The shelf almost matches another one that I already have that is painted navy blue.  And I thought even though the shelves aren't quite matching, with the same color of paint, they would look cute hanging on the wall together....So finding that paint is still on my to do list.  Also on that list (other than finishing the stripping and painting and moving the other bookcase upstairs and sorting through more movies and books), is hanging the frames and stuff I have for the girls' bedroom.  And painting a small table/desk that my mother and her husband gave me this summer.  The desk is really cool, it was from a college and has these carvings on the surface...you know like Suzy hearts Johnny...stuff like that.  And has tons of dried up gum on the bottom - yuck! But I thought I would paint it white (since the girls are eventually getting white dressers and the trim is already white) and put it in their room.  They can use it as a desk or they can put their make up on it, etc.  I can't really think of another place to put it.  I originally wanted it for the kitchen, but it's a little big for in there.  Then I had it in the living room, but once I get that room done the way I want it, there won't be room for it in there either.  So the girls get it.  Which means I also need to add finding a chair to go with it to my list of on growing things.

See, how nice I am to those girls....even after they were really bratty last night.  When I asked Amanda (while I was painting her room, mind you) to help make dinner last night, she said "That's not MY job."  I said, It is if I say it is.  It's not like I was asking for a three course meal.  It was just hamburger for sloppy joes and some noodles.  Geesh! Here I was standing on a ladder with a paint roller in one hand, the other tightly gripping the ladder for dear life...paper towels shoved in one pocket, a wallpaper scrapper in the other, and a paint brush with paint on it stuck in my pony tail and she was giving me attitude about "helping" me make dinner.  She's lucky that I didn't throw some paint in her direction....LOL!

Sunday, March 28, 2010

For A Worthy Cause....

I was given a virtual Easter Basket from Outnumbered Mama! Thank you very much! It is meant to pass on and it's for a great cause! Would you like to help raise $5000 for the Children's Miracle Network? Don't worry, it's really easy! Hershey's will donate $10 for each post about this blog hop between March 18, 2010 and April 4, 2010! Just include these instructions with your post:
Copy and paste these rules to your blog post.

Create a blog post giving a virtual Easter Basket to another blogger – you can give as many Virtual Baskets as you want.

Link back to person who gave you an Easter Basket.

Let each person you are giving a Virtual Easter Basket know you have given them a Basket.

Leave your link at BetterBasket.info/BlogHop comment section. You can also find the official rules of this betterbasket blog hop, and more information about Better Basket with Hershey’s there.

Hershey’s is donating $10 per each blog participating to the Better Basket Blog Hop to Children’s Miracle Network (up to total of $5,000 by blog posts written by April 4th, 2010).

Please note that only one blog post by each blog url will count towards the donation.

I would love to give Easter Baskets to the following bloggers, but don't feel left out if I didn't include you, feel free to participate anyway, after all it's for the kids. And know, that I want you all to have a wonderful Easter and start your own Better Basket Blog Hop and together we'll do some amazing things for the Children's Miracle Network!

Evonne at All You Need Is Love
Allie at eat.sleep.play
Emmy at Mom--One Day At A Time
Kristy at Learning As They Grow
Helene at I'm Living Proof That God Has A Sense Of Humor
Heather at Gerber Days
Shelley at C Mom Cook

Please pass it on and Have A Very Happy Easter!!

Saturday, March 27, 2010

I'm In Wallpaper Hell.......

I'm pretty sure I've mentioned this in past posts, but I'll go ahead and say it again for the newbies reading my blog......(And can I get a Hell Yeah for reaching 200 followers, WooHooo!!!!!)  when we bought this house every.single.room except for the downstairs had wall paper or border in it.  All the bedrooms, the kitchen, the upstairs bathroom, the hallway, the entry way....you name it there was wall paper hanging on it!

At first we didn't care (more like Rich didn't care and I tolerated it).  But then we finally decided to paint the rooms and Rich wanted to just paint over top the wall paper.  He said with the right primer it wouldn't matter.  But I thought it would.  You could totally see the lines where the wall paper was.  So, while he was in Florida helping his mother recover from surgery this past winter, I started stripping wall paper and border in the bedrooms.  I did two bedrooms and had to quit.  It was horrid! I even made the kids help me do it (hey it's their rooms).  You already know from reading my other recent post that we finally picked a color for the living room.  So I've been working on it for about a week now.  It's taking me forever, because #1 I had to work a day or two in there and #2 Rich's huge fish tank is in the living room, so I need him to drain some of the water and move it out (Luckily, when he did the new floors, he put sliders on all the furniture including the tank), so I can paint behind it.  #3 I also have to wait for Rich to fill in the billions of holes and nail holes, etc. that our kids have made in the walls, which have to be sanded down, etc. etc.....  And then there is the matter of stripping the wall paper that is two stories high (on stairwells no less).  Did I mention that I'm afraid of heights? 

At any rate, it is a slow going (Very Slow) process, but it is coming along rather nicely, so I thought I'd share some pics of the whole thing....before and during at least and one pic of the color too.

The wall paper border, that keeps going and going and going.....
the entry way
See what I mean about being a pain in the butt!? Oh, and don't pay attention to that UGLY light fixture, that I've been begging Rich to change out for a while now....maybe he will once all the painting is done.
Never been one to turn down a little help, hahaha...

Already looks better!

A sample of the color ("Coffee")...It's going to be so pretty, isn't it?

Friday, March 26, 2010

Nathan's Cupcakes

This morning Nathan asked me if we could make some "muffins, cupcakes or somethin'".  I was happy to oblige him.  I don't know what he loves more, eating the finished product, helping me bake or licking the bowls and spoons....I'm pretty sure that he'll love the memories we're making, even more!
Making the coconut green for the grass
Shake, shake, shake!
Letting it dry
Mixing the frosting
Ready for the decorations
coconut and jelly beans

Being a little stinker.....LOL!
Yummy Cupcakes
And a day full of fun.....

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